About me
Hi, I am Nico!
So how does life come to strand you on the distant shores of Costa Rica to work as a tour guide and passionately flying paragliders? Well… to start with it was quite simply the job. Today, it is love. The love for flying and Costa Rica is just a part. Most importantly it is the love for my wonderful wife and daughter.
Back in the day, I studied tourism management in Germany, fuelled by the desire to see distant countries, wild nature and exotic cultures. My high-flying illusions quickly got checked with a series of rather dry lectures on financial mathematics, political economy and trade laws. Finally, an internship in Costa Rica reconciled reality with my treasured ideals. And when, after having completed university I got offered a job as a guide in Costa Rica, I quickly took it up to keep my finger pressed on the pulse of the tourism dream. A handful of personal belonging got stuffed into a big backpack and off I went to work in Costa Rica for at least one full high season.
I found a job I love – one that became addictive. It was clear from the start that I would stay in Costa Rica for more than the one high season. Looking back, I have never lost that initial enthusiasm for Costa Rica, its nature, diversity and charming people… and I kept on sharing it with guests from all over the world, year after year.
A northern flatlands dweller from the Hamburg region, it had nevertheless always been my dream to fly paragliders. Finally, here in Costa Rica, I found mountains, sun, blue skies and a small but avid group of local pilots and instructors that soon after encouraged and guided me in taking my first air-born steps. Passion number two had been discovered!
Finally, I found private happiness just a short while later when I met my wife Vivian. One blessing followed the next and now I am writing these lines cradling my daughter on my lap. Looking around… everything seems to indicate I will be here for a while, yet! And that is a great thing!
I still have the big backpack that was all I had when I first arrived in Costa Rica all those years ago. In addition to that I now have a wife, a daughter, a paraglider and an assortment of odds and ends. However, my trusty big backpack is still put to good use on all Costa Rica tours.